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Air and ground search turns up no sign of missing North Dakota college student

WAHPETON, N.D. – A search by foot patrols and airplanes failed Sunday to find any sign of a North Dakota State College of Science student who vanished early Thursday morning.

Andrew Sadek, 20, was last seen about 2 a.m. Thursday leaving Nordgaard Hall on the campus here.

More than 50 officials, including law enforcement officers and firefighters, walked an area of the Red River along the Minnesota-North Dakota border from a mile south of Wahpeton-Breckenridge to a mile north of the cities, but found no trace of Sadek.

The foot patrols included a K-9 search team and were joined by searchers riding all-terrain vehicles.

Two pilots also conducted an aerial search, covering an area five miles south of Wahpeton-Breckenridge to five miles north of the cities.

The ground searches focused on public property in Wahpeton-Breckenridge and surrounding areas.

“Our search turned up nothing,” Sgt. Steve Helgeson, who heads the NDSCS campus police, said Sunday. “We’re really basically pleading for the public to help us.”

Tips received from the public so far have not produced any solid leads, Helgeson said, leaving investigators stymied.

Authorities once again ask people in the Wahpeton-Breckenridge area to check their property, including outbuildings, for anything unusual.

Also, NDSCS campus police are interested in learning if anyone offered a ride to a person matching Sadek’s description.

A Caucasian male, Sadek is 6 feet tall, weighs 175 pounds, has curly brown hair and brown eyes. He is a native of Rogers, N.D.

Sadek was wearing blue jeans, orange-and-black Nike tennis shoes and a hooded black-and-red sweatshirt with the word “football” in white letters on the front when he was last seen. He carried a black-and-silver backpack.

A second-year student studying electrical technology, Sadek was last seen by a security camera leaving his dormitory, Nordgaard Hall. It isn’t known whether he continued on foot or got into a car.

Nothing seemed unusual about Sadek before his disappearance, said Harvey Link, NDSCS vice president for academic and student affairs.

“We have no indication that he was troubled or unduly stressed or anything like that,” Link said.

Sadek has a cellphone, but the last activity was on campus, Helgeson said. There has been no activity on his checking account or credit cards, he said.

Similarly, no friends, roommates or family members have had any contact with Sadek since he went missing, Helgeson and Link said.

“It’s quite a mystery,” Link said.

Helgeson said he will meet with fellow law enforcement officers to determine the next steps in the ongoing search for Sadek. Police and firefighters from Wahpeton and Breckenridge and the Richland and Wilkin county sheriff’s offices have been helping in the search.

Anyone with any information about Sadek or his whereabouts is asked to call the NDSCS campus police at (701) 671-2233.

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